Saturday, June 30, 2012

Roses

They don't look like much now, but here's hoping that by summer they are booming gorgeous!

I decided to add three more roses to my rose garden, and top priority for me is smell - I want a rose to smell like a rose - if it absolutely reeks, all the better.

I'm a total novice rose grower and so far I only have hybrid teas. As roses are pretty expensive, I just treated myself to three. I have to send away for them, as we just don't have the choice up here.  I was a bot worried about getting plants through the post, but they arrived beautifully packaged and completely undamaged. The plants look lovely and healthy so I'm pleased.


I put in a fair amount of compost in each hole, and in very early spring I'll put a whole load of cow poo on them. My existing roses were fairly hard pruned a few weeks ago.
Last summer was a pretty poor show on the rose front, so I'm hoping this year will be better. I'm going to feed them more as well so we'll see if that makes a difference.

 Here's what I got -  Auckland metro



 Blue Sky
 


 and Dioressence

I'm really excited to see how they do!

12 comments:

  1. Radox Bouquet has an amazing smell too Laura...I hope you have success with your new roses...

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    1. thank you, Suzanne! I'm going off to search for some of those.

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  2. They will do brilliantly! I always tell people with brown thumbs to grow roses, think of all those deserted farmhouse and cemeteries with their lovely old roses still growing. Now, you need to get yourself some David Austen roses - I'll be checking that you've done so!

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    1. ooo and those! I can tell I'm going to need a bigger rose garden !

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  3. Anonymous10:13 pm

    Oh isn't it magic getting a live parcel in the mail? I order through my favourite garden club and every time that box turns up with LIVE PLANTS printed on it I scramble to get them sun and water but they always get by somehow!
    Roses are so romantically lovely...when I get to plant something non-edible I am going to plant them too....they grow them at the end of the rows in vineyards as an indicator of vine health and they have some beautiful varieties here (I am afraid I do not know their names) that are so heady with perfume it almost makes a girl drunk to breathe it in!! I am sure they will thrive with your care - and remember you can underplant them with garlic to keep the pests away :)

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    1. it is! I'd never had a garden before moving here, so it's all pretty new and exciting! It's funny, when we moved on there were some old thorny rather spreading roses along one of the walls here - they never really flowered and after a couple of years I bit the bullet and got rid of them. ( gave the root stock to our neighbour!) I never thought of myself as a rose person. Then a couple of christmases ago a friend had a bunch of the most amazing home grown roses on the table and I was totally hooked! Thanks for the garlic advice - I had no idea - and your timing is perfect as I was just about to plant my cloves!

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  4. They look gorgeous Laura! I'm sure they will be very happy on your wee farm. cheers Wendy

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    1. Hi Wendy - I hope so! Can't wait to see the flowers :)

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  5. Tony is the gardener here and he swears by total neglect of roses -- fortunately not the indoor one. ;)

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    1. well, I'm awfully glad the indoor Rose doesn't get neglected!! ;0)

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  6. Anonymous7:24 am

    Loving the unusual colour of "Blue Sky" - I haven't seen it for sale in Scotland. If you like yellow roses, try Chinatown for fragrance - I have two, but live in a windy area so I have to get my nose pretty close, but the perfume is fab :-)

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    1. I'm not exactly sure if it will be that bright - in the catalogue it looked paler and more lilacy. I'll have a look to see if I can get chinatown over here - I don't actually have a yellow rose.

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Laura x